Finally!!!
12-17-2015, 01:16 AM
#1
Rennlist Member
Thread Starter
Finally!!!
Hey all, been a Porsche fan all my life and the day finally came to own one. After two years research, some saving, My C2S 997.2 is in my garage.
I've been on here quite a bit and reading and learning, not contributing much, but appreciating what this forum has to offer, so i joined some time back. Also joined the PCA.
Got the car as a 49.75 (50th) birthday gift to myself, after years of hard work, putting three kids through college, rebuilding a business from the ground up (19 years) it was finally time.
I've built and race and tour a 1970 Chevrolet Camaro SS/RS-LS, hence my name. And that car is super fun, and while i'll "most likely" never sell it, it was a car i "ended" up with some 22+ years ago, alot of blood sweat and tears went into it. But this 911 is the first car i've owned that I dreamed of, and while a unicorn at times, dream came true.
I went from wanting to purchase a 911 whatever (996?993?964?911?977?) to a
996 (budget of 20 to 30k) to 997 40 to 50K, to a GTS to a GT3, back down to a C2s. Reason being, i have a race car, and while the GT3 is probably my ulitmate dream car, I wanted a driver. A car my wife and I could take to LA, tour in comfort (not too racy) and basically, a car i WANT to use, not worry about. The C2S as opposed to the GTS, it really came down to a Looks thing for me. When I was at the Porsche August event in Monteray, i realized my first Porsche love was the 74 RS Carrera. So this car will be close to that look. Or close to the Sport Classic in my avatar (which will be changing soon)
Future mods include, the sport classic wheels, lowering it, the ducktail by Getty, and possibly the Carrera decal down the side.....
So, My son and I flew from the Bay Area to Grand Rapids Michigan to drive it home. I've been looking for about two to three months for a 997.2, silver, six speed, C2S and only found three in the country. Auto Trader, Cars.com, Car gurus, PCA site, here, sixspeed online, C-List, Porsche Dealer locator, everyday for two+months. Got a car CPO'd, 17k miles, for 59K, i was very pleased with the deal and dealership. Everything on the car was as described. So we proceeded to drive her (Karla) home.
the first day (12th) went from 9:30 Est Grand Rapids to Joplin MS, bout 9 at nite and looking at "MY Rader" app, showed green to yellow rain just ahead, so we stayed the nite in Joplin, a few hours short of our goal.
Day 2, Joplin to Flagstaff AZ, long day (13th), went from 7:30am to 11pm mt and hit major rain in MS and OK, finally hit Texas and wound her up. All I know is this car is meant to drive and wind, man, i'm impressed. Just outside of Texas/Amarillo, we hit snow, uh-oh. So i went for it, kinda stressing, but what can you do, we decided to go the "southern route" thinking the weather would be condusive, man was I wrong....
This was pulling into Tucumcari NM, finally starting to clear up....^^^^
This was watching the sun set in NM
So, I thought we were clear for Mondays travels....but fate had other plans. We woke up to this Monday morning
So, decision time, hmm do we "go for it?", the snow is dry and powdery, and there were alot of 2wd cars and no chains. Hmmm, front desk said "no prob, we do this all the time"....So I set out for hwy 40 and by time i got on the freeway, the road was black and it looked doable, well, lets just say we weren't at the top of the mountain like the front desk said. Climbing up to 7400', I'm all alone on 40 (no other traffic) i realized i had made a bad decision, so while we motored on, just before the summit, the road said, NOPE, your not going to pass in that car!!!!
So we went into a slide (at 32mph) and couldn't have stopped any better, "landed" in a on ramp (that was closed) 20' from traffic, level, facing forward, WOW, some good luck for a change. At that point, i wasn't anxious anymore, our fate had been sealed. Called AAA, flat bed came, he knew about the tow eyelet, pulled the car up, bam, were on our way....
He took us down the mountain, to about 5000', we fueled up, and smooth driving all the next 9 hours home.....What an introduction to this fabulous machine. Spent 40 hours in her, and can't wait for the next....Washed it tonite and she resides next to "Dis-Traction"(my 70 Camaro) and the trip was a success, stressful, but successful.....
Well, thats all for now....i enjoy being here, and looking forward to much driving, track time, auto cross, and just plain putting some miles in....Cheers
I've been on here quite a bit and reading and learning, not contributing much, but appreciating what this forum has to offer, so i joined some time back. Also joined the PCA.
Got the car as a 49.75 (50th) birthday gift to myself, after years of hard work, putting three kids through college, rebuilding a business from the ground up (19 years) it was finally time.
I've built and race and tour a 1970 Chevrolet Camaro SS/RS-LS, hence my name. And that car is super fun, and while i'll "most likely" never sell it, it was a car i "ended" up with some 22+ years ago, alot of blood sweat and tears went into it. But this 911 is the first car i've owned that I dreamed of, and while a unicorn at times, dream came true.
I went from wanting to purchase a 911 whatever (996?993?964?911?977?) to a
996 (budget of 20 to 30k) to 997 40 to 50K, to a GTS to a GT3, back down to a C2s. Reason being, i have a race car, and while the GT3 is probably my ulitmate dream car, I wanted a driver. A car my wife and I could take to LA, tour in comfort (not too racy) and basically, a car i WANT to use, not worry about. The C2S as opposed to the GTS, it really came down to a Looks thing for me. When I was at the Porsche August event in Monteray, i realized my first Porsche love was the 74 RS Carrera. So this car will be close to that look. Or close to the Sport Classic in my avatar (which will be changing soon)
Future mods include, the sport classic wheels, lowering it, the ducktail by Getty, and possibly the Carrera decal down the side.....
So, My son and I flew from the Bay Area to Grand Rapids Michigan to drive it home. I've been looking for about two to three months for a 997.2, silver, six speed, C2S and only found three in the country. Auto Trader, Cars.com, Car gurus, PCA site, here, sixspeed online, C-List, Porsche Dealer locator, everyday for two+months. Got a car CPO'd, 17k miles, for 59K, i was very pleased with the deal and dealership. Everything on the car was as described. So we proceeded to drive her (Karla) home.
the first day (12th) went from 9:30 Est Grand Rapids to Joplin MS, bout 9 at nite and looking at "MY Rader" app, showed green to yellow rain just ahead, so we stayed the nite in Joplin, a few hours short of our goal.
Day 2, Joplin to Flagstaff AZ, long day (13th), went from 7:30am to 11pm mt and hit major rain in MS and OK, finally hit Texas and wound her up. All I know is this car is meant to drive and wind, man, i'm impressed. Just outside of Texas/Amarillo, we hit snow, uh-oh. So i went for it, kinda stressing, but what can you do, we decided to go the "southern route" thinking the weather would be condusive, man was I wrong....
This was pulling into Tucumcari NM, finally starting to clear up....^^^^
This was watching the sun set in NM
So, I thought we were clear for Mondays travels....but fate had other plans. We woke up to this Monday morning
So, decision time, hmm do we "go for it?", the snow is dry and powdery, and there were alot of 2wd cars and no chains. Hmmm, front desk said "no prob, we do this all the time"....So I set out for hwy 40 and by time i got on the freeway, the road was black and it looked doable, well, lets just say we weren't at the top of the mountain like the front desk said. Climbing up to 7400', I'm all alone on 40 (no other traffic) i realized i had made a bad decision, so while we motored on, just before the summit, the road said, NOPE, your not going to pass in that car!!!!
So we went into a slide (at 32mph) and couldn't have stopped any better, "landed" in a on ramp (that was closed) 20' from traffic, level, facing forward, WOW, some good luck for a change. At that point, i wasn't anxious anymore, our fate had been sealed. Called AAA, flat bed came, he knew about the tow eyelet, pulled the car up, bam, were on our way....
He took us down the mountain, to about 5000', we fueled up, and smooth driving all the next 9 hours home.....What an introduction to this fabulous machine. Spent 40 hours in her, and can't wait for the next....Washed it tonite and she resides next to "Dis-Traction"(my 70 Camaro) and the trip was a success, stressful, but successful.....
Well, thats all for now....i enjoy being here, and looking forward to much driving, track time, auto cross, and just plain putting some miles in....Cheers
12-17-2015, 01:32 AM
#2
Cruisin'
Join Date: Nov 2015
Location: Illinois
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Congrats Mike from a 49.9 guy! Totally related to your story growing up loving the 70's 911's. Much enjoyment to you with your new ride.
Ps. All great/memorable trips seem to have an unexpected weather event. Glad it worked out for you.
SammyD
Ps. All great/memorable trips seem to have an unexpected weather event. Glad it worked out for you.
SammyD
12-17-2015, 03:40 AM
#5
Instructor
Welcome to the club. Had to wait until I was 54 and got the girls through college. Great story, I was lucky enough after about 7 months of looking daily, to find mine about 2 hours from home!
12-17-2015, 06:05 AM
#6
Congratulations!! Great story and car.
Got my first of 4 911s at age 52. Now 68 and on my last one (I'll never sell her). Moved to Naples Florida this year and hardly drive her anymore since it's just the beach during the day (I have an old orange jeep (1985) I take for that run) and if I go out for a drink or dinner at night I roll her out and put 15 or 20 miles on her.
Twice a month I go to see my sister in Sarasota and that's about 2 hours for me so I get the chance to really let her go on the highway and I'm always reminded what a fine machine I'm privileged to own.
Tom
Got my first of 4 911s at age 52. Now 68 and on my last one (I'll never sell her). Moved to Naples Florida this year and hardly drive her anymore since it's just the beach during the day (I have an old orange jeep (1985) I take for that run) and if I go out for a drink or dinner at night I roll her out and put 15 or 20 miles on her.
Twice a month I go to see my sister in Sarasota and that's about 2 hours for me so I get the chance to really let her go on the highway and I'm always reminded what a fine machine I'm privileged to own.
Tom
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12-17-2015, 08:42 AM
#9
Rennlist Member
12-17-2015, 10:08 AM
#10
Race Director
Glad you made it home safe and sound.
Too late for you but when I travel during times winter weather or just real bad weather -- one doesn't want to drive his Porsche through a hail storm if he can avoid it -- is a possibility as soon as I get into the hotel room I turn on the Weather Channel and get up to date on what to expect the next day and the days after. This helps me plan my route or change my plans and pick a new route.
Also, I have been known to if the weather is being fickle or I'm cutting things close to stop for a short rest at a hotel and use the TV in the lobby to bring myself up to date on weather conditions where I'm heading.
And I always grab a complimentary copy of USA Today and read/study the weather section until the ink is faded.
If you get stuck in a town with snow on the roads. you can wait until you hear the big rigs take off. The big rig drivers know when the roads are clear or clear enough. Then wait some more as the truck traffic will help clear the roads some more.
Be aware that Texas has the apparent philosophy -- at least for the interstate highways -- that God put the snow/ice on the road and only God can take it off.
On a drive west on I-40 I was in OK heading west and the weather went from rain to sleet to freezing rain. The freezing rain part was just across the state line in TX. I thought I-40 would be sanded/salted and the traffic would have the roads passable. Oh, I was in my 2006 GTO with summer tires.
Might note this was one time I broke from my usual habit of using the Weather Channel to help me avoid bad weather.
But the highway was just icy. So icy that when I would let off the gas the rear wheels would slide from engine compression. I was in the slow lane moving may 20mph. Vehicles in the fast lane were moving faster and some vehicles driven by locals had chains on as I could hear them as the vehicles went by. Deciding I had had enough and was not going to push my luck any more I pulled off the freeway at Shamrock Tx but there were no hotel rooms at the hotel there at the exit. I got back on the freeway for some reason but no sooner did I get back on that I regretted my decision. Luckily I made it to the next exit and decided even if I had to spend time in my car waiting out the storm it was better parked on a surface street in town than in a ditch on the side of the freeway.
Surprisingly as bad as the freeway was, the surface streets were not bad. Slushy but they had been plowed and salted/sanded. I headed south and in just a few blocks from the freeway came upon a motel and stopped and got a room. By this time the snow had been falling a while and there was several inches on the ground. I drove the GTO from the motel office to my room. As I was pulling into the parking spot I spotted bump in the snow and not knowing what it was tried to miss it but being tired I hit it. I heard a pop and hiss and thought "Damn I holed a tire!" I backed up the car and got out and smelled shaving lotion. I had run over someone's shaving kit bag and the pop was an aerosol can of shaving cream.
I grabbed the bag and tossed it into the trash.
The next day thinking the highway would be clear I checked out and hit the freeway. Damned if the freeway wasn't still icy. There had been no sanding/salting done at all. I got back off at the same exit I took the night before and went back and rebooked the room to wait it out. Later around 1pm I got hungry and headed towards town to get a bite to eat and noted the surface streets were still slushy but passable.
I decided to head south on a state highway and just a mile or two spotted a big rig coming my way. I got on the CB radio and asked the driver for a road condition report. He said just a short distance south the roads were quit clear.
Not wanting to be held up another day/night I went back to the motel and checked out of the room and then retraced my route and was soon heading south out of Shamrock. Sure enough the road got better and better and in just a couple of miles was free of any snow/ice. Generally ice storms are do not cover a very wide area. Had I not been tired the night before I might have remembered this and ducked south and missed the drama of an icy I-40 and spent the night in Amarillo, my intended stop for the night rather than Shamrock.
I checked my map and laid out a route to take me south and then west and then north to rejoin I-40 just east of Amarillo where I-40 was clear the storm having come up between Amarillo and Shamrock then kind of followed I-40 east.
Too late for you but when I travel during times winter weather or just real bad weather -- one doesn't want to drive his Porsche through a hail storm if he can avoid it -- is a possibility as soon as I get into the hotel room I turn on the Weather Channel and get up to date on what to expect the next day and the days after. This helps me plan my route or change my plans and pick a new route.
Also, I have been known to if the weather is being fickle or I'm cutting things close to stop for a short rest at a hotel and use the TV in the lobby to bring myself up to date on weather conditions where I'm heading.
And I always grab a complimentary copy of USA Today and read/study the weather section until the ink is faded.
If you get stuck in a town with snow on the roads. you can wait until you hear the big rigs take off. The big rig drivers know when the roads are clear or clear enough. Then wait some more as the truck traffic will help clear the roads some more.
Be aware that Texas has the apparent philosophy -- at least for the interstate highways -- that God put the snow/ice on the road and only God can take it off.
On a drive west on I-40 I was in OK heading west and the weather went from rain to sleet to freezing rain. The freezing rain part was just across the state line in TX. I thought I-40 would be sanded/salted and the traffic would have the roads passable. Oh, I was in my 2006 GTO with summer tires.
Might note this was one time I broke from my usual habit of using the Weather Channel to help me avoid bad weather.
But the highway was just icy. So icy that when I would let off the gas the rear wheels would slide from engine compression. I was in the slow lane moving may 20mph. Vehicles in the fast lane were moving faster and some vehicles driven by locals had chains on as I could hear them as the vehicles went by. Deciding I had had enough and was not going to push my luck any more I pulled off the freeway at Shamrock Tx but there were no hotel rooms at the hotel there at the exit. I got back on the freeway for some reason but no sooner did I get back on that I regretted my decision. Luckily I made it to the next exit and decided even if I had to spend time in my car waiting out the storm it was better parked on a surface street in town than in a ditch on the side of the freeway.
Surprisingly as bad as the freeway was, the surface streets were not bad. Slushy but they had been plowed and salted/sanded. I headed south and in just a few blocks from the freeway came upon a motel and stopped and got a room. By this time the snow had been falling a while and there was several inches on the ground. I drove the GTO from the motel office to my room. As I was pulling into the parking spot I spotted bump in the snow and not knowing what it was tried to miss it but being tired I hit it. I heard a pop and hiss and thought "Damn I holed a tire!" I backed up the car and got out and smelled shaving lotion. I had run over someone's shaving kit bag and the pop was an aerosol can of shaving cream.
I grabbed the bag and tossed it into the trash.
The next day thinking the highway would be clear I checked out and hit the freeway. Damned if the freeway wasn't still icy. There had been no sanding/salting done at all. I got back off at the same exit I took the night before and went back and rebooked the room to wait it out. Later around 1pm I got hungry and headed towards town to get a bite to eat and noted the surface streets were still slushy but passable.
I decided to head south on a state highway and just a mile or two spotted a big rig coming my way. I got on the CB radio and asked the driver for a road condition report. He said just a short distance south the roads were quit clear.
Not wanting to be held up another day/night I went back to the motel and checked out of the room and then retraced my route and was soon heading south out of Shamrock. Sure enough the road got better and better and in just a couple of miles was free of any snow/ice. Generally ice storms are do not cover a very wide area. Had I not been tired the night before I might have remembered this and ducked south and missed the drama of an icy I-40 and spent the night in Amarillo, my intended stop for the night rather than Shamrock.
I checked my map and laid out a route to take me south and then west and then north to rejoin I-40 just east of Amarillo where I-40 was clear the storm having come up between Amarillo and Shamrock then kind of followed I-40 east.
12-17-2015, 10:28 AM
#13
Race Director
Might mention too that section from Tucumcari over to Santa Rosa and even further west to where 285 and I-40 meet (I think this is called "4 Corners" but almost every place the freeway and a highway/road intersect is called "4 Corners" on I-40) and even further west to Moriarty can be bad.
Dad when he and Mom were RV'ing often ended up staying in Santa Rosa as the freeway west of there was closed due to snow/ice. I myself have spent more than one night at Santa Rosa vs. making it all the way to Albuquerque due to bad weather.
Back in 2010 heading east out of Albuquerque I ran into a snow storm. This time I was in my Turbo on summer tires.
I made it ok through about the 40 or 50 miles of snow -- to Santa Rosa (which was clear of snow) -- by getting in behind an empty big rig -- the empty ones go slow as they are empty and don't have 80K pounds pushing the tires through the snow to the pavement below -- and letting its tires clear a path for my Turbo's summer tires and run interference in case something was on the road ahead. One still has to give himself plenty of room to stop just in case the trunk plows into a vehicle. Often if the snow (or rain) gets real bad drivers will stop sometimes in the slow lane and one has to be prepared for this.
Managed to snap a pic...
Dad when he and Mom were RV'ing often ended up staying in Santa Rosa as the freeway west of there was closed due to snow/ice. I myself have spent more than one night at Santa Rosa vs. making it all the way to Albuquerque due to bad weather.
Back in 2010 heading east out of Albuquerque I ran into a snow storm. This time I was in my Turbo on summer tires.
I made it ok through about the 40 or 50 miles of snow -- to Santa Rosa (which was clear of snow) -- by getting in behind an empty big rig -- the empty ones go slow as they are empty and don't have 80K pounds pushing the tires through the snow to the pavement below -- and letting its tires clear a path for my Turbo's summer tires and run interference in case something was on the road ahead. One still has to give himself plenty of room to stop just in case the trunk plows into a vehicle. Often if the snow (or rain) gets real bad drivers will stop sometimes in the slow lane and one has to be prepared for this.
Managed to snap a pic...
12-17-2015, 10:52 AM
#14
Cruisin'
Join Date: Nov 2015
Location: Illinois
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Macster your story made me laugh. Texas thought on snow removal is so true.
I was returning from a bow hunting trip in the Hill Country bout ten years ago. first night stay was in Dallas. That night Dallas got 3" of snow on top of ice.. That's an inch more than total annual expected snow fall for the readers. Things come to a halt in Texas when ice hits road. Cars get parked on side of road, not kidding.
The following morning headed north to Ok. They were using road graders at 8mph to plow snow off major interstates. All this while semi's traveling at 55mph. Not safe seen a full size Impala sitting in median with the whole front clip missing, ya nothing from firewall forward. Wish I had pictures. To this day I still shake my head.
Sorry not to steal thread, look forward to more pictures and write ups from your trips with your 911. Great job.
SammyD
I was returning from a bow hunting trip in the Hill Country bout ten years ago. first night stay was in Dallas. That night Dallas got 3" of snow on top of ice.. That's an inch more than total annual expected snow fall for the readers. Things come to a halt in Texas when ice hits road. Cars get parked on side of road, not kidding.
The following morning headed north to Ok. They were using road graders at 8mph to plow snow off major interstates. All this while semi's traveling at 55mph. Not safe seen a full size Impala sitting in median with the whole front clip missing, ya nothing from firewall forward. Wish I had pictures. To this day I still shake my head.
Sorry not to steal thread, look forward to more pictures and write ups from your trips with your 911. Great job.
SammyD
12-17-2015, 11:05 AM
#15
Rennlist Member
Still love my trip to Sedona, 5 years ago. MA to La and back.
Lots of stops in between.
Before my Sport Classic wheels.
All my travels in Summer time, no fighting snow and ice!!
Congrats on the car, enjoy!!!
Lots of stops in between.
Before my Sport Classic wheels.
All my travels in Summer time, no fighting snow and ice!!
Congrats on the car, enjoy!!!